Kebab shop wants to offer deliveries until 4am

A kebab shop owner wants to be able to make deliveries until 4am during the week and 5am at weekends to keep up with customer demand.

Ebadullah Abid, 23, wants to extend the late-night refreshment licence for his business, Flames, at 36 Preston Road, Brighton, to allow him to offer home delivery of food and soft drinks after his current 1.30am closing time.

At a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel hearing today (Wednesday 10 June), council licensing official Emma Grant said that the business had planning permission to operate until 11pm.

The licensing and planning regimes have separate rules – and although Flames has a licence to operate until 1.30am, it should still shut at 11pm.

Mr Abid told the panel of three councillors – Steve Davis, Ivan Lyons and Kerry Pickett – that he was speaking with his solicitors about the application to align his opening hours and planning permission.

Claire Abdelkader, from Sussex Police, said that Mr Abid was refused an application last August to open until 4am daily.

At a meeting before the hearing, Mrs Abdelkader said that draft conditions had been agreed with Mr Abid in the event that the licence extension was approved.

She said: “Sussex Police cannot see what has changed or been offered that goes above and beyond what was refused last year.

Mr Abid said that his business was small and that a significant proportion of orders came in after midnight.

When asked about keeping the noise down because people lived above the shops, he said: “We will have a clear notice on the door saying to leave quietly and respect our neighbours.

“Obviously we will ask all the delivery drivers to turn their engines off when they arrive for collection and verbally remind them to be silent when they are collecting.”

Delivery drivers would wait inside the shop and would be directly employed, he said.

Flames is in Preston Road, which is on a “red route”, so drivers would have to park in a nearby loading bay.

Mr Abid said that he would accept a 2am closing time during the week but would want to offer deliveries until 4am at weekends.

The panel retired to make its decision which should be made public within five working days.